20 Winter 2017 Applegater
Local fruit-tree propagation effort
BY BRAD SMITH
Oregon’s propagation fairs started with
a humble seed swap in Eugene, hosted
by Eugene’s permaculture guild. Over
the years the seed swap became the Lane
County Propagation Fair, combining a
seed swap, a scion exchange, and skill-
sharing presentations centered around
food plants, regenerative soil building,
and building community resilience. This
evolution has now resulted in a series of
propagation fairs throughout Oregon every
March and April, including one here in
our valley.
These events provide visitors with a
good selection of free scion wood. Scion
is the fresh growth on fruit-tree branches
(usually pruned off anyway). Once you
select your variety, you can either take the
scion home and graft it or have professional
on-site grafters make the artful union onto
rootstock for a small fee. You can walk away
with some rare varieties of apple, pear,
plum, cherry, medlar, grape, figs, and more.
■ DENNIS DRAGON
Continued from page 2
recordings and held himself and his clients
to the highest standards. His studio offered
the warm sound of bygone days, the days
when sound and delivery was all there was.
We were involved in the filming of
Dennis’s brainchild television pilot,
Podunk Today, a pretty genius talk/variety/
music show about what it is to live out here
in this environment. The host was Vince
Herman of Leftover Salmon and we were
the house band. There may be a memorial
release of it in the near future.
In this fast-paced, modern-day society,
where quantity often tops quality, Dennis
Dragon was such a valuable resource and
an irreplaceable character. He was as open-
minded as he was stubborn. In the same
way that some have trouble working under
genius directors, working with Dennis was
an exercise in excellence. I am honored to
have had the pleasure!
These events are the perfect place to freely
share cuttings of your favorite food plants.
The propagation fair organizers decided
to decentralize the annual event in order
to diversify our plant material sources so
we won’t have to depend on large, at-risk
collections.
Our propagation material has mostly
come from the legendary Nick Botner
in Yoncalla, Oregon. Mr. Botner has
over 4,000 varieties of apples alone. He
has allowed us access to his orchard over
the years, so our team has been able to
observe it being progressively overtaken by
anthracnose fungal disease. We also noticed
the varieties that were showing resilience in
the wake of this fungal infestation creeping
across the northwest.
We need those of you who have good
fruit trees to allow us to take a handful
of cuttings in January or February to be
shared freely at these events the following
months. Our local Propagation Fair will
Our song, “Heroes Unsung,” was the
last song to be recorded at the studio at
Pacifica on September 25, 2017.
Aurelia Anne Cohen
booking@intuitive-compass.com
Feeling the day turn
It was three or four years ago, and we
were sitting on Enderts Beach in Crescent
City. “Did you feel it?” Dennis asked. I had
just felt it. Yes, I really had.
It happened at the hottest point of the
day, when you could suddenly feel the sun
going in the other direction. The day had
peaked, and we had both felt that moment
together.
The ocean is the place to feel such a
shift. No one had ever spoken about this
before; I had never even read about it.
But, of course, such things exist. It’s such a
magical thing to feel the turning of the day!
Thanks, Dennis, for this great memory
and so many others! You are much loved
and missed.
Laura Zukowski
zukiezukie@gmail.com
I met “The Dragon” several years ago
when I was looking for a studio to record
some of my new songs.
Dennis was a very intense person with
a great, dark, humorous side to him that I
be held in March 2018 at the Williams
Grange. Stay tuned for an exact date.
Although we started calling ourselves
Agrarian Sharing Network (ASN), we’re
still just a loose-knit collective of folks
that could include you too. Our aim
is to enhance the availability of fruit
diversity, counter to the trend of restricting
access through bureaucracy inherent in a
kakistocracy. It’s up to the people to plant
the future.
To be on the mailing list or be part
of this 100 percent participant-driven
effort, email propagationfair@gmail.com
or write to ASN, PO Box 346, Williams,
OR 97544.
Brad Smith
feralseed@unseen.is
related to. We had a lot of laughs working
on that project. Where else but in the
Applegate could I trade my homemade V8
juice for some extra studio time?
Through Dennis, I met some topnotch
musicians with whom I still work. And
the songs on my CD, Just Like You, that
Dennis produced became a major hit five
feet either side of my mailbox.
Johnny Trujillo, who coproduced with
Dennis and played bass guitar on Just Like
You, became a great friend and is producing
my new CD. We laid down 12 rhythm
tracks with Dennis engineering. Dennis
was shocked when we knocked out eight
tracks in one day. He called me many
times after that session to tell me that my
song “Twinkie Lips” was “the one.” Then
he’d laugh and ask how I came up with
the lyrics.
Well, “Twinkie Lips” will be dedicated
to you, Dennis, in that big mixing board
in the great beyond.
J.D. Rogers • 541-846-7736
We miss you, Dennis.
Your unique creativity and willingness
to help will always be in our hearts. Our
world will be a smaller and sadder place
without you.
Ray and Peg Prag
Pacifica Garden
peg@pacificagarden.org
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